Whanganui filmmakers Double Farley have done it again

Writer Robin Hyde is the subject of Double Farley's new film selected for the DocEdge Festival.

For the second year in a row, a film made by local company Double Farley has been selected to screen at the DocEdge film festival.

Last year Double Farley's film Set in Stone which followed the restoration of Herewini Whakarua's statue at Pakaitore won the DocEdge special mention best NZ feature and best emerging NZ filmmaker categories at the festival.

The new film, A Home in This World, was made for Wairarapa-based director Juanita Deely.

The short documentary explores the life of one of New Zealand's best writers, Robin Hyde (Iris Wilkinson), through conversations with her secret baby, Derek Challis, now 87.

As well as being an acclaimed novelist, Robin Hyde was a prolific journalist who wrote for a number of newspapers and magazines in the 1920s and 1930s, including the Wanganui Chronicle.

"Juanita had already done a huge amount of research when we met her at last year's DocEdge," says Melita Farley, the film's associate producer.

"Juanita asked us if we'd be interested in working with her to make the film, and we met to start the project a few days later."

Cinematographer and editor Kevin Double says, "We started filming in Auckland in August last year and completed filming in our studio in January this year.

"It was a challenge to get the film edited in time for submission to DocEdge in March.

"Being based in Whanganui was actually an advantage when it came to editing the film," says Kevin.

"Because we have close to gigabit-speed internet in our office we were able to work with the director using high-resolution screen-sharing technologies rather than having to travel back and forth for edit screenings.

"It shows that it is possible to make independent films with people based anywhere in the world."

This year's DocEdge line-up includes 24 short documentaries and 50 feature films, selected from hundreds of submissions.

A Home in This World will screen in Wellington on Sunday, May 20 and Auckland on Sunday, June 3 as part of the DocEdge shorts collection ARTearoa which includes three other fascinating New Zealand-made shorts about artists and creators.